What was your first amp?

[Evilution]

My first was a FBT Jumbo 200 like this one (borrowed pic).

A short time later in the late 80´s i got a Marshall Lead 12 combo with reverb that i actually still have but havent used for many years. (Borrowed pic again)

Since the small Marshall combo hardly had any bass i used to stack them with the FBT in the bottom for more bass and the Marshall on top connected together though the line out of the Marshall, from what i remember it sounded pretty good that way.

 

[JerEvil]

Literally my first rig back in the late 80’s

 

[Jaji]

1982 Carvin X100B with matching 4x12. Neither gets used anymore, but I won't ever part with them.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

1982 Carvin X100B with matching 4x12. Neither gets used anymore, but I won't ever part with them.

That's a hell of a first amp!

 

[Jaji]

That's a hell of a first amp!

I had been borrowing my dad's 70's Twin Reverb, and I kept complaining that it wouldn't do overdrive sounds. At first he got me a fuzz pedal. Still not what I was after. So, after a year of whining and begging, he broke down and got me the amp. Didn't hurt one bit that he and I were both players and he understood my frustration. Also didn't hurt that he was a doctor, lol. I've since purchased the rest of my amps myself. Many of which were funded by playing in bands.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

My first „amp“ was a TurboRAT plugged into my stereo. If you think that early Darkthrone sounds like shit - that is nothing compared to 15 year old me with the aforementioned first „rig“.

 

[Evilution]

My first „amp“ was a TurboRAT plugged into my stereo. If you think that early Darkthrone sounds like s**t - that is nothing compared to 15 year old me with the aforementioned first „rig“.

Actually before i had any real amp i used to plug into the family stereo, ha ha so you are not alone, this was probably more like when i was 12 rather than 15 because at 15 i had both the FBT and Marshall that i posted earlier and also a new Japanese made Fender strat which was my first good guitar and i still own that and the small Marshall. My first electric guitar was a crappy Harmony hard tail strat copy, i actually still have that one as well but its just as a memory it was always almost unplayable.

 

[Red Solo Cup]

Internet photo. Kinda wish I still had mine.

 

[Stratzrus]

Within a few years got a deal on an Ampeg VT-22. That thing was a heavy pig but a fantastic pedal platform for my SD-9 and EH Small Stone, very very loud.

When I was in my mid 20's I bought a VT-22 and yes, it was heavy as hell. I was gigging in NYC and had to haul it up and down stairs in the subways of NYC. The absolute worst "grab-and-go" amp I ever had from a transportation standpoint but it had all of the volume I ever needed.

I was one of the musicians touring with Dancemobile and we were playing outside in the streets of Manhattan. No problem being heard no matter what the background noise was.

 

[mavrick102000]

I can't even imagine trying to tote that around NYC.

It was bad enough in rural NE PA, or my high school.

I snagged a head version of the VT-22 in the early 90's. Quite a bit more maneuverable without those magnets on dual 15" speakers and the heavy cabinet.

Speaking of the cabinet - no casters/wheels - because who needs rolling casters with nearly 110+ pounds of combo amp with just the handle at the top, so no one can help you carry it?

 

[Life Eats Life]

Well..my first amp I actually owned got burnt
to ashes, so no Polaroid from those days unfortunately fellas.
What’s interesting about me is, at first I did not know that you are supposed to use a guitar with a guitar amp.
If it had an input Jack and you said it was an amp,
I plugged in!

But this started a sorta’ ritual gone wild of plugging
into ANY amplifier, turning everything up all the way up and hammer out broken bits of heavy metalLed Zepplelin to Ac️DC to Metallica & then land somewhere between
Jane’s Addiction & Smashing Pumpkins..
I would relentlessly just jam hard at the amp,
I did not understand equalization or gain, I was seeking them monster mutes’ coupled with the heavy hand & foot of John Bonham..
NOT the distortion.?
So I had few individuals around Holiday
FIRED UP at me.

My first amp that I mowed sand spur littered yards in Orangewood Estate’s in the
ruthlessly humid Florida weather,
-was the “Dean Ultra Gain”.
Me and two of my buddies hammered on it hard one night though & I was leaning hard into
heavy metal “Communication Breakdown”
in my Mom’s living room and apparently the
“Ultra-Boost” orange square sorta flexible switch
got jammed inbetween gears.
This sent that thing into BEAST MODE ULTRA
& that thing lit up for about 5 seconds
and then started smoldering..
Serioudly though, it sounded bad ass until it
changed form and melted out.
We were so stoked!!
My Mom..not so much, I had to pick up
oranges & grapefruits and mow that
Holiday, Florida sand spur turf for
6 f’n months dude’s!!

One of them many visit’s to the
ole’ school of hardknocks.
-the glory wasn’t worth the pay…

Long live METAL!!!!’

 

[Eagle]

Marshall J800 50 watt 1x12 combo.
Loud as hell .

 

[Zodiac]

It was this piece of crap, a FAL Super 100, and I built a 2x12 cab with speakers from Tandy.
Well, it was 1972, I was 14 yrs old and hadn't got a clue
Edit.... This was my first electric guitar. An Eros SG copy. Through that FAL I made some thoroughly disgusting noises that really pissed off our neighbours

 

[Achilles]

I bought it from a little music store inside of the first shopping mall ever built in our area.

 

[Sascha Franck]

It was this piece of crap, a FAL Super 100,

Hah! And there was me, already wondering whether I was the only person who ever played an FAL amp. In my case it's been a FAL Kestrel through a 4x12 FAL cab. Both sounded, well... shall we say; less than ideal?

A true beauty, no?

 

[Zodiac]

When I got that FAL I had no idea about tubes or solid state.. Aaah, the naivety of youth eh?
My next amp was much better, a Carlsbro
CS60 60 watt tube head. I also acquired a Laney 4x12.
Wish I still had that Carlsbro now, actually.
This isn't that actual amp, but it was the same as this.

 

[Zodiac]

Just found an old b/w photo of yours truly making an unholy racket through the FAL.
Gigantic sized 2x12!!!! And, yes, I was into Hawkwind...... Still am

 

[RDodson]

View attachment 5252

Internet photo. Kinda wish I still had mine.

My first amp as well!!

 

[Timberwolfe]

I don’t remember what it was but it wasn’t a guitar amp, it was a mono hi-fi tube amp that my mom bought for me at the Goodwill. Then my cousin gave me a Fender Blender and that’s what started it all for me

This. Did its job surprisingly well (or so I thought back then ). After that it was a plethora of 80s / early 90s Crates, Peaveys, and some obscure brands I might only manage to remember in a deep hypnosis session. Brrrrrr... Traumatized for life.

 

[Mooselake]

Mine was a Traynor TS-25 I bought used in 1983, the same day I bought my first Guitar for the Practicing Musician mag. That lovely SS overdrive. That's part of what got me hooked on chorus, seemed to tame some of the squall.